Written by

JOHN MONAGHAN
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

It didn't work for Norman Bates or Hannibal Lecter. So why do the makers of the "Saw" movies feel so compelled to give serial killer Jigsaw an excuse for his madness?

It turns out that John Kramer (Tobin Bell) was once a successful real estate developer who specialized in low-income housing. But when wife Jill (Betsy Russell), who ran a clinic for addicts, lost her unborn child because of a run-in with one of her patients, John became an avenging angel. This explains why he is so intent on having his morally flawed victims see the error of their ways before having their eyes poked out by one of his ...